Linguistic Imperialism In The Philippines

During the late 1800's and early 1900's, America was working toward becoming an imperialistic nation. With such a change, government policies must evolve in order to adapt to its country's needs. However, there is a point in which new government policies can be detrimental to those involved. While America's government's changing role was certainly necessary in expanding the country, there were numerous instances in which the government became too imperialistically rapacious.

Language plays a significant role in defining who we are. It is a method of communication in a structured and conventional way. “Language reinforces feelings of social superiority or inferiority; it creates insiders and outsiders” (p. 242) states Robert MacNeil (2012) in his article “English Belongs to Everybody”.

“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.” Abraham Lincoln. (Document A). The United States did just this in 1898, when they annexed the Philippines. The Filipino people had been fighting for their independence against Spain for many years before the US intervened. The rebels, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, were grateful for the assistance. The Filipino people thought that the US had come to help free them from Spain. Unfortunately for the Filipino people, they were incorrect. On February 6, 1899, the United States of America annexed the Philippines, much to the disgust of the rebels in the Philippines and many people in America (including Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, and former President Grover Cleveland.) The reasoning behind this was partially for economic prosperity, thinking that the Philippines held the “secret route” to riches by being a trading partner and a jumping

The Filipino people had helped the US fight the Spanish-American War in hope to gain independence in return. However, instead of gaining independence the Philippines was annexed to the United States on December 10, 1898. When the Filipino’s had found they were going to be ruled over once again they were very unhappy, after all they had helped the US. When Aguinaldo had found out that the Philippines were going to be controlled by the US, he had declared war on the United States.

As soon as Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, this officially handed over the Philippines to American control. With adding more troops over the years to win battles, to win the confidence, respect, and loyalty of the population, America engaged in a great deal of what is today called “nation building.” Like the European colonizers, the United States poured more into their territories it acquired than it took. Many leaders have come through setting up parties and elections and making their mark of what they’ve done. Many years following the Spanish-American War, the United States would intervene in the affairs of Caribbean islands and Latin American

The bald red, white, and blue eagle of American Democracy is coming for you Phillipines, run while you can! Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, was so infatuated with the idea of democracy, and he wanted every country to have a little taste of American freedom! After America's victory in the Spanish American War, George Dewey and his 11,000 American troops marched into manila and were unsure whether to liberate or occupy the filipino people. Thinking the they were here to help, the Filipino rebels trusted the Americans, but were soon betrayed as Dewey decided to occupy the land. The United States had three choices to determine what they wanted to do with the Philippines: Give it back to Spain, Give the filipino people their freedom, or to annex the whole country itself. With much debate ranging from artists, influential citizens, and government officials, the US ultimately decided it would annex! The United States should not have annexed the Philippines but rather should have given them their independence. While others may think the annexation of the Philippines would have benefited them, what the Philippines really needed was

At the age of eight, the rest of my family moved to the U.S, it was not a completely foreign country to us, American movies were played in Filipino theaters and I’ve heard plenty of stories about the country through my parents. Surprisingly, although Philippines is one of the third world country, almost everyone can speak English due the fact that English is one the primary languages spoken alongside

1. We might think of America as great country who stands up for the greater good but sometimes we let ourselves too involved in other country’s business. One country we affected with our new system of imperialism is the Philippines. We were at war with Spain until the Treaty of Paris of 1898 was made and Spain gave control of the Philippines to us. In this time in history, America is a very strong country and could have control over weaker countries if she wanted to. The united states didn’t know if they should give the Philippines the independence or become an imperial power by annexing the Philippines.

　　　　Language is an essential part of our daily lives. Language is used to communicate with other people to meet our needs and satisfy our understandings. Everyone uses one language or another. Some have an advantage and are able to use

The independence of the Philippines brought a new hope to the citizens that they would finally be able to govern themselves. Imperialization from the Spanish in the 1500’s, followed by U.S. control up until the end of World War II left the country hungry for economic resources and trustworthy leaders. Even with independence from the United States, they were unable to escape from unethical, elite leaders that were favored by the US government. Numerous citizens and nationalist leaders attempted to revive the economy multiple times, yet there was always some way it would fail. Although there were notable benefits in the aftermath of their independence, such as better commerce and strong leaders who brought economic progress, overall its impacts

In the Philippines, we spoke the indigenous Filipino language called Tagalog. While the medium of instruction in school was English, we talked with family, friends, and acquaintances using mostly the native language. Aggravating the situation was the fact that we also didn’t know the culture of the Occidentals.

English has undergone some changes in relation to its status in the world. Some years ago, it only became the first or second language for several countries. Nowadays, alongside with the development of information, communication, and technology the status of English becomes a lingua franca in the world. That is, a language that is used as a means of communication between people with different language. This change, of course, brings some impacts in the roles of English as a language. English is not seen as a language for identity anymore. Yet, it functions mainly as a means of communication. Added to this, the change of the English status as a lingua franca will also impact to the educational sector especially in English Language Teaching (ELT). With regard to this issue, this paper tries to present the notion of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and its implication to the teaching learning process especially in Indonesian context.

The Philippines was very lucky because our country was rich in natural resources. And that is the reason why many foreign countries had colonized our country.

Linguistic imperialism is a concept used by scholar Robert Phillipson, he mostly spoke about the imperialism of the English language, although this concept can be applied to all the world’s major international languages with imperialistic origins, when the original population had to adopt the invader’s language because of the benefits that accrue to the speakers of the languages when the dominant language has been imposed (Phillipson 31). Linguistic imperialism in Latin America started with the ‘discovery’ and the occupation of the New World by the European powers. Spanish and Portuguese language were imposed on the local populations and therefore many indigenous languages vanished. This essay will especially focus on Brazil and the

However, the idea of forcing the western culture on the original people failed. Also, the Spanish brought foreign diseases with them to the Filipinos. Such as smallpox and leprosy. Finally, under the Spanish rule, the Philippines became part of the Spanish monarchy. This made other countries refuse to trade with the Philippines. There were one thing that was successful in the Spanish colonization, this was the influence of the Spanish language. Once the Philippines knows about the Spanish language, it became the main (official) language in Philippines. Wasn't a long amount of time until they changed it again to Tagalog, their old